Hall v. Committee of Bar Examiners

• Decision Date: 27 November 1979
• Citation: 602 P.2d 768,25 Cal.3d 730,159 Cal.Rptr. 848
• Parties: , 602 P.2d 768 Willis Burdette HALL, Petitioner, v. COMMITTEE OF BAR EXAMINERS OF the STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA, Respondent. L.A. 31071.
• Court: California Supreme Court

Page 848

159 Cal.Rptr. 848

25 Cal.3d 730, 602 P.2d 768

Willis Burdette HALL, Petitioner, v. COMMITTEE OF BAR EXAMINERS OF the STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA, Respondent.

L.A. 31071.

Supreme Court of California, In Bank.

Nov. 27, 1979.

Goldin & Goldin and Martha Goldin, Hollywood, for petitioner.

Herbert M. Rosenthal and Margaret G. Wilkinson, San Francisco, for respondent.

TOBRINER, Justice.

Willis Burdette Hall seeks review of the action of the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar (Committee) denying him certification to this court for admission to the bar on the ground that he lacks the "good moral character" required for such admission. (Bus. & Prof.Code, § 6060, subd. (c); Rules Regulating Admission to Practice Law, rule X, § 101(a).) ¹

In reaching its decision to exclude Hall from the practice of law, the Committee relied heavily on its premise that Hall had failed to demonstrate adequate "remorse" for conduct in which he had engaged in managing an employment agency between 1972 and 1974 and for which he had been disciplined through a 20-day suspension of his employment agency license by the state Bureau of Employment Agencies (Bureau). Hall contends that the record in his case belies the Committee's conclusion that his so-called "lack of remorse" reflects an absence of respect for the judicial process or an unwillingness to conform his conduct to professional standards of ethics. Hall maintains, to the contrary, that his attitude throughout the Committee's proceedings simply reflects his honest and sincere disagreement with the prior administrative findings, a position that does not constitute a basis for the Committee's finding that he lacks "good moral character" or is likely to behave in an unethical manner if admitted to the bar. As we shall explain, under the circumstances of this case we believe that Hall's contentions are well taken and that the present record does not support the Committee's decision to deny Hall the opportunity to practice law in California.

The undisputed facts disclose that petitioner, who is 59 years old, graduated from Western State University College of Law in 1976, having passed the October 1975 professional responsibility examination. In December 1976 the Committee informed him that he had passed the Fall 1976 bar examination, but that certification would be withheld pending its investigation of his moral character.

On April 21, 1978, the three-member subcommittee in charge of that investigation (Admission Rules, rule X, §§ 102(b), & 108) conducted a hearing, at which Hall appeared with counsel and presented witnesses and documentary evidence. On July 26, 1978, the subcommittee filed a split decision, with two members concluding that Hall lacked the requisite good character for admission to the bar.

Hall submitted the case to the full Committee on the basis of the record before the subcommittee. On October 24, 1978, the Committee adopted the factual findings and conclusions of the subcommittee majority and denied certification. Three months later the Committee informed petitioner that he could request reconsideration in October 1979. This petition for review followed.

The Committee's decision to refuse Hall certification rested primarily on three findings: ² (1) In 1974 the Bureau disciplined Hall in his capacity as manager of an employment agency for four incidents occurring in 1972-1974 which allegedly involved unethical fee collection practices; ³ (2) Hall's testimony concerning those incidents demonstrated a lack of remorse as to the alleged wrongdoing; ⁴ (3) Hall lacked the candor and respect for the law demanded of a practicing attorney. ⁵

The applicant bears the burden of proving his good moral character. (Admission Rules, rule X, § 101(a).) Once the applicant has furnished enough evidence of good character to establish a prima facie case, the Committee may attempt to rebut that showing. (Konigsberg v. State Bar of California (1960) 366 U.S. 36, 41, 81 S.Ct. 997, 1002, 6 L.Ed.2d 105, 111.) We turn, then, to the independent examination of the record which we must undertake in reviewing a certification denial, to determine whether applicant Hall has made his prima facie showing and if so whether the record contains sufficient evidence of bad moral character to rebut that showing. (See Siegel v. Committee of Bar Examiners (1973) 10 Cal.3d 156, 160, 110 Cal.Rptr. 15, 514 P.2d 967; Hallinan v. Committee of Bar Examiners (1966) 65 Cal.2d 447, 450-451, 55 Cal.Rptr. 228, 421 P.2d 76.)

The uncontradicted evidence of good moral character presented by Hall clearly establishes the requisite prima facie case. He had a distinguished Air Force record, receiving the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters for his participation in thirty-five World War II combat missions; after the war, he served as an administrative officer, supervising two officers and twenty-five airmen and performing the duties of a squadron adjutant. During the Korean War he commanded a B-29. In 1953 he was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant Hall worked for 11 years as a flight engineer for United Airlines; has held a valid California license to operate an employment agency (except for the 20-day suspension hereafter discussed) since 1962; has lived at the same address since that year; and has been a good husband and father, raising 5 children, now all adults. Since 1974 Hall has continued to operate his employment agency on a full-time basis, attending law school at night until his graduation in 1976, and no complaints against him have been lodged with the Bureau.

Two witnesses presented by Hall at the subcommittee hearing testified that he possessed good moral character. Cecil A. Bulbeck, retired officer at the San Diego Trust and Savings Bank who had known Hall for approximately 10 years through Hall's transactions at the bank, described Hall as a "hardworking, industrious" person who "really tried his best" for clients and handled his financial affairs "very well." Bulbeck also testified that he knew of nothing detrimental to Hall's honesty or character.

John E. Ballard, a private investigator who met Hall in 1972 when both began their studies at Western State Law School and had known him since as a friend, occasionally performing investigative services for Hall's agency, testified that he considered Hall "one of the most honest men" he had ever met. He found Hall a "very straightforward person," who "always sticks up for what he believes," even in a classroom situation in which "maybe everybody in the class including the teacher would not agree with the particular point or what Hall felt was the (legal issue) in the case." Hall, Ballard stressed, "would always explain what he thought (the issue) was and support it with reasons why he felt it to be so, and . . . even when I think it worked to his detriment he never varied from saying what he felt was the truth in the matter." Ballard also stated that he had never known Hall to "misrepresent things." Both Bulbeck and Ballard recommended Hall for admission to the bar without qualification.

We conclude that this evidence sufficiently establishes Hall's prima facie case of good character. Indeed, the Committee did not conclude otherwise; as it informed Hall in April 1977, its investigation was confined to the disciplinary action taken by the Bureau for four counts of allegedly unprofessional conduct by Hall, arising from incidents occurring in 1972, 1973, and 1974. The Committee's ultimate decision to deny Hall admission, however, did not rest exclusively on the Bureau's findings regarding those incidents. Rather, the Committee focused its attention on Hall's presumed "lack of remorse" for his past conduct, an attitude which it construed as signifying a disrespect for the law and concomitant unwillingness to adhere to an attorney's ethical obligations.

Hall challenges the Committee's interpretation of his stance regarding his prior conduct, arguing that evidence in the record corroborates his claim that his position reflected an honest disagreement with the substance of the Bureau's decision rather than a lack of remorse or respect for the law. To lay the groundwork for our evaluation of the Committee's conclusions, we summarize below the Bureau's findings ⁶ and the evidence offered by Hall to demonstrate the good faith basis of his refusal to display remorse in response to those findings.

COUNT 1

Bureau's charges and findings. Count 1 involved Mark Bryant, who in 1972 obtained a job as dispatcher with the Tony Sampo Equipment Rental Company upon Hall's referral. Bryant paid Hall only part of the fee to which he was entitled; the Bureau alleged that in attempting to collect the remainder Hall made "in excess of ten telephone calls" to the company, urging Bryant's employer "to pressure" Bryant to pay him. This action, the Bureau found violated section 9993, subdivision (a) of the Business and Professions Code, which declares "unprofessional conduct" by employment agency personnel to be grounds for discipline.

The Bureau also charged Hall with urging the company to discharge Bryant so that Hall could supply a replacement and collect an additional fee. Bryant was fired after six months, but the Bureau found no support for the charge that Hall influenced that decision.

Hall's evidence. Hall told the subcommittee that he had discussed Bryant's failure to pay his fee with Mel Clippinger, an employee at the equipment rental company who handled some personnel matters for Tony Sampo. Hall denied, however, asking Clippinger to help him collect the fee. Clippinger testified before the subcommittee that he did not recall receiving excessive or harassing telephone calls from Hall. He was reminded and did not deny that he described the calls as a "nuisance" in the Bureau's 1974 proceedings; in context, however, that testimony appears to reflect Clippinger's irritation at Bryant for refusing to take the calls rather than any...